State agrees not to enforce ‘double registration’ law in order to settle federal voting rights suit

The Montana Secretary of State’s Office and the Commissioner of Political Practices have come to an agreement with two groups which successfully challenged a 2023 law that would have made it crime for residents to be registered to vote in two places simultaneously, even if it didn’t result in double voting.

As federal court judge Brian M. Morris made clear in the stipulated agreement signed late last week, double voting in Montana is already a crime. However, House Bill 892 made it a crime to be registered in one place and voting in another, something that evidence and testimony says happens all the time for a variety of reasons.

The agreement will technically leave Montana Code 13-35-210(5) on the books, but make it unenforceable, with both the Secretary of State and COPP agreeing that they’ll not enforce it because its likely a violation of the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit was brought by the Montana Public Interest Research Group and the Montana Federation of Public Employees. They were represented by Raph Graybill of the Graybill Law Firm and notable voting rights legal team, the Elias Law Group in Washington, D.C.